


I Will Survive

by Lalaloser133



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Safe-Zone, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-23 10:34:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lalaloser133/pseuds/Lalaloser133
Summary: It hit while I was in class and I did everything I could to survive. I'm going to stay alive.-------Xander Forrest was studying for his Western Civilization class when suddenly the zombie apocalypse hit and he rushed to get prepared. He made it out of town and traveled for a year before his care broke down. Now he is in the woods and heading towards Washington D.C.Little does he know, he is about to meet the love of his life and a good group of friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Give me feedback. If you like this I will write more.

Intro

                It all started while I was studying. The screams echoed throughout the halls of my college followed by growls and I looked up from my notebook to see a group of people running towards me. I squinted my eyes thinking I was looking at them wrong; they were people except their skin looked yellow and rotted, their faces gaunt, and some were missing limbs… Then I realized it! I grabbed my notebook and closed it, throwing it into my bag and running the opposite direction from the large group of dead people coming towards me.

            The path was clear and I launched myself through the back door, seeing another group coming up on my left, so I turned right. I ran down the rain damped sidewalk and between buildings. ‘I need to get out of here’ was the only thing running through my brain as I dashed past bushes and jumped over half eaten bodies. People were screaming all around me and I watched as the dead grabbed them and devoured them. The blood flying everywhere, turning the ground beneath red and splattering the bushes, and I was horrified by the images, but I didn’t stop running.

            The large parking lot was full of people rushing to their cars and trucks hoping to get away from the masses trying to kill us all. I had no truck, but I saw a person being wrenched back as they tried to put their keys into theirs and so I ran towards him. Maybe I could help him and he would help me get out of here.

Running up to the big indigo truck, I grabbed the knife I kept in my pocket for the dangerous walks home and ran up to the dead stabbing it in the back. It wasn’t fazed and it turned its attention on me. I stabbed again towards the heart, nothing. Finally, after wrestling with it a bit more I stabbed it in the temple and just like that the thing collapsed; note to self: head shot.

After the body collapsed, I looked back at the guy only to find that he had lost the wrestle with the other one and was already being eaten and dead…. So I stabbed the dead in the head and took the keys from the body. Not my brightest moment, but there wasn’t much I could do for a dead guy. I hopped in his truck and thanked the lord it was an automatic. Turning the key in the ignition, I heard the engine turn over and I threw the truck into reverse, turning to look over my shoulder to make sure I didn’t hit any of the living. I hit a few of the dead though.

After kicking the truck back into drive, I floored it and began to drive. I watched the road as people pulled out speeding away from the dead filled parking lot, not many cars made it out and I weaved in and out between cars avoiding hitting them. The trees rushed by and I avoided all the busy highways and roads knowing that they would all get backed up. I was right as I passed under the freeway on an abandoned road to see it packed and people climbing out of their cars to run from the hoards. I was glad I chose this path.

Arriving at the house I was renting just on the outskirts of town, I jumped from the truck and ran into the house. I grabbed my duffel bag and ran to the pantry, pushing the nonperishable into the bag and tossing it by the front door. Then I ran into my room and filled my largest suitcase with clothing; I tossed that by the door as well. Finally, I grabbed my back pack that I had on my back and opened it, putting my laptop and charging cord, small collection of knives, phone charger, and the watch - given to me by my father who passed away a year ago – into it. Zipping that up I was ready to go and I rushed to the door grabbing the duffel and suitcase.

I put all my stuff in the passenger side of the cab and headed to my all-time favorite store three streets over, _Nerdware_. At _Nerdware_ , I rushed inside stabbing the few dead that I saw and took an empty fandom bag off the shelf. Slowly I pulled the swords and knives from the wall. The swords and knives were remakes of fandom wear, but they were still just as sharp as the real thing and would come in handy for slicing heads, or limbs, off. I also raided the candy display and checked the break room for any other food; I found three cans of beans with a note that said ‘Bethie’s Lunch! Don’t Touch!’ and shrugged tossing them and a party bag of chips into the bag.

After all that I decided that I didn’t need anything else and ran back out the door with a small knife in my hand. Rushing back into the cab of the truck and turning it back on. I drove out of town using a rough unused back road and once I was far enough away I decided to stop and take count of the food I had taken. Six cans of chili, thirty-five packages of Ramen noodles, forty-five bottles of clean water, and eight boxes of granola bars. I didn’t bother to divide it or create rations; I don’t eat much so there wasn’t much need for it. This food should last me awhile. I nodded my head and started driving again.

 -----------

I stayed on the road and kept moving for about a year and six months, siphoning gas from cars parked on the highway and scavenging food where I could, before my car broke down somewhere around the boarded of West Virginia and Maryland. By this point, much of my stuff had been dwindled down. I now only had in my possession: a hat, sunglasses, one t-shirt, one long sleeve shirt, a pair of combat boots, two pairs of jeans, about 24 days of food, my weapons, my phone, headphones, and charger for music. All of these things fit into a backpack and the weapons in a duffel bag.

Instead of walking along the road, which I was sure would be crawling with walkers up ahead, I decided to take a detour through the woods towards Washington D.C. I didn’t quite know where I was going all I knew was I was going to survive.


	2. Shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter one! I filled up three pages on word with this thing.  
> Please keep your feedback coming, i wanna know people are reading this so I will keep updating because I am a highly unmotivated individual.

Chapter 1

            The ground crunched beneath my feet as I trekked my way through the woods. The trees stretched into the sky above my head and the ground had nothing but animal tracks along it. Virgin soil being graced by my feet with every step I took. This was different from the road I have become so connect to when I was driving. I had a set path on the road, out here I didn’t. Out here I only had my own path. I didn’t quite know where I was headed, I just knew that I was headed somewhere.

            The leaves above me rustled as the wind blew a bit and I pulled my weapon ready for anything to try and hop out to kill me. Everything looked peaceful, but sometimes things look peaceful before one of the dead pops up. I sighed and took in more of my surroundings. The grown was covered in damp leaves and the trunks of the trees stretched out of the dirt like tall white columns. The sky was clear and the heat making itself present with the precipitation on the back of my neck and soaking the front of my shirt.

            I grabbed for my water bottle and took a large swig of water. That’s when I heard it. A scream. I shoved my bottle back into my bag and took off running in the direction of it to find a teenage boy on the ground holding up a dead one and another dead one making its way towards him. I acted fast dropping the duffel bag and running up to the dead one headed for the boy. I swung my battle axe from _Nerdware_ off my back and sliced the dead one’s head clear off. Then I put the Axe back and pulled out my dagger stabbing the one the kid was still wrestling with in the left temple. I shoved it off the boy and offered him my hand.

            “I had it.” The boy glared at me and pushed himself up from the ground.

            “I’m sure you did. That’s why you were screaming.” I smirked.

            “I had i-”

            “CARL!” we both swung our heads in the direction of the voice and watched as two men and a woman ran towards us. They stopped at the edge of the tree line to the clearing and pointed their weapons at me.

            I threw my hands up into the air, “Woah.” I said “I’m not hurting the kid.”

            “Who are you?” A man with a thick southern accent asked me. The man looked tired as if he had been fighting for just a bit too long. His shirt was dirt stained, his pants were torn in certain areas, and he had a hip holster, which I was guessing the silver gun with the wooden handle that was pointed at me was supposed to go. He stared me down with ice blue eyes that I could tell were quite sad. My thoughts were broken by the clear of his throat.

            “My names Xander, Xander Forrest. I’m was a history major at University of Alaska Anchorage when the break out started. I stole a truck and I just kept driving. I managed to make it here.” I spoke rushed, “The kid was being attacked by walkers and I killed them for him.” I avoided the word ‘saved’ for fear that it would piss them off.

            “You just come up and save the kid? That don’t seem right.” The other man spoke up. This man had a crossbow pointed at my face and looked like he wouldn’t mind killing me if given the word. His long hair hung greasily down and his gruff face stared back at me. This looked like the kind of man who would do anything for the people he loved. I could tell we probably weren’t going to get along.

            “I did! I promise.” I said, “Kid tell them.”

            The kid looked at me and sighed, “Dad, he’s telling the truth… about killing the walkers. The rest I don’t know.”

            I nodded and looked at the kid gratefully. Other people I have encountered wouldn’t have backed me up. They would have killed me and stolen my stuff without a second thought. I watched as the two men looked like they were thinking it over, the woman however lowered the katana she had ready to slice my head off and looked at the first man who the kid called dad.

            “Rick.” She said.

            The guy looked at her, looked back at me, then to the other guy, “Okay.” He said and everyone lowered their weapons. “Xander.” Rick said.

            “Rick.” I said back. He looked at me as if I should continue. “Oh… I thought we were doing that thing where we just say our names… Okayyyyy.” Carl tried to chuckle under his breath, but I heard it. I smile.

            “I’m Michonne.” The Katana woman spoke up.

            “I’m Daryl.” Crossbow guy said with a grunt.

            “Okay well-” I stopped.

            “Well, Wh-” Carl started, but I shushed him. They all looked at me weirdly and I turned in the direction I came from. The growling was quiet, but I could hear it. I pulled my battle axe down off my back and got prepared for a walker. Then as they came into view I counted them, _One… Two… Three…_

            I kept counting until I came to the number twelve and yet there was still more coming. “Shit.” I said. They all looked at me confused and I ran for my duffel bag. I shoved my battle axe into it and pulled out a small sword instead then I took the bag and the 6 foot rope I had coiled inside. I tied one end to my bag and looked over to a tree with a sturdy branch, zipping the duffel shut I set my sword on the ground and threw the duffel over the branch pulling the rope taught. I climbed a little bit up another tree and tied the rope to the second branch about eight feet up. Then I hopped down, they were still standing there and I gave them a dumb founded look. By this point the heard was visible.

            “Why are you not running?! It’s a heard!” I yelled and grabbed my sword off the ground.

            “You saved my son, we weren’t gonna leave you here alone.” Rick said.

            “Fine but let’s go!” I yelled and started running ahead of them in the direction from which they came. I noticed that they started to equalize speed with me except for the kid who fell a bit behind. I slowed a bit until I was behind Carl, “You slow down, I slow down kid. I’m tailing you.” I told him and the kid gave a nod as he picked up speed to be neck and neck with his father. Daryl ran beside me and we all followed Michonne.

            We came running up to a tall wall with a rusted gate in the middle and Rick started yelling, “OPEN THE GATE!” I watched as a man on the tower quickly clamored down and disappeared. Our backs were to the gate at this time and the heard was close enough to small their rotting flesh. I rose my sword and cut the head off the one closest to us. Then I jumped up and roundhouse kicked the second one in the face and landing on my feet to swing and slice the next one’s head off. An arrow whizzed by my head and landed in the rotted eye socket of one that got too close. I glanced over my shoulder and gave Daryl a brief nod.

            The screech of the large rusted gate sliding filled the air and I was grabbed by the arm and yanked back behind the gate. A large amount of people ran over to the gate and began to push it closed as a few of the dead made their way in. Michonne and I stepped forward and began to kill the one who got through as the door slid to a shut. Only about fifteen walkers made it through, but everyone worked together to take care of the problem without much effort.

            I slid my backpack of my bag set it on the ground and laid down on the cement. “Shit. That was scary.” I said with a wide smile, “I haven’t had an adrenaline rush like that since I made the mistake of driving through the outskirts of L.A. Whatever you do don’t go to L.A.” I laughed. They all looked at me dumbfounded and those who had no idea who I was looked at me apprehensively. A tall red-headed man with a mustache pointed his gun in my face.

            “Who are you?” He growled.

            I opened my mouth to be cut off by Daryl’s rough growl, “Stand down Abraham, he’s an annoying little shit, but he saved Carl’s ass out there. Twice.”

            Rick looked over at him in slight shock. I guess Daryl doesn’t normally stand up for strangers. I nodded to Daryl and Abraham withdrew his gun. “Everyone, this is Xander Forrest.” Rick introduced me.


	3. Warm Bohemian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> keep the comments coming homies, I need motivation.

Chapter 2

I waved at everyone from my spot on the ground, “Hiya.” I replied. Mostly everyone still looked apprehensive, but suddenly there was an Asian man offering me his hand. The man was slim, looking very agile. His face looked slightly worn from worry, but his eyes held a small happy light.

            “I’m Glenn.” He said as I took his hand and he pulled me up. He let go of my hand and gestured to a girl with short brown hair and an apprehensive face just like most of the people there, “That’s my wife Maggie.”

            I nodded to her, “Maggie.” I said. It went like that for a while, people introducing themselves and walking away to go back about their business as if nothing happened. I nodded and repeated each of their names back to them, my way of remembering, until a priest walked up to me.

            “Gabriel.” The man said and offered his hand.

I looked at it, but didn’t shake it. “Gabriel.” I repeated. He was the last of the compound and he walked off with a weird look on his face.

“What was that for?” Rick asked.

“What was what for?” I replied back confused.

“The cold shoulder?”

“The Catholic church and I don’t really get along.” I muttered and grabbed my bag. I headed back for the tall gate and climbed up the lookout stand to check the front gate. The heard had gathered at the gate and were banging on it wanted to get in, but the heard wasn’t too large. There looked to be less than forty of them and I knew that if I could just make it through them then I could get back to my duffel. The only reason why he tied it up was because it was heavy and would weigh him down as he ran. “Is there any other way out of here besides this front gate?” I asked Rick.

“No. There’s only one entrance and exit so that nobody can hurt us, it they want in they need to come in the front.” his reply came sounding a bit confused.

I nodded and inspected the other parts of the compound from my high perch. Inside the walls stood carbon copy houses with white picket fences. This was a suburb. There were solar panels around so I could tell they probably at least had electricity and their gardens were filled with fresh vegetables. It was a nice place.

I climbed down from the post and began to walk along the edge. I could climb one of these beams to get out, all I needed was two pipes. Once I get over the wall I could get back to my duffel following the tracks. I just needed to be quiet and not draw any attention. I nodded at the beam and turned back to Rick and the others who were still staring at me curiously. “I need two sturdy pipes, ones that if I put my weight on them they wouldn’t break.” I said looking at Rick.

Rick looked confused, “Why?” he asked.

“To get out of here and back to my duffel.”

“Don’t be stupid. You ain’t going anywhere.” Daryl’s voice spoke up, his crystal blue eyes glaring at me.

“I can go wherever I want.” I said walking up to him and getting in his face. Daryl wasn’t bad looking, his face was a bit wrinkled form the worry that this world brought upon us all, but he was an attractive man. His breath was minty, which I’m sure was because he had been chewing gum, but he smelled vaguely of tobacco so I knew he was a smoker. He was attractive for sure and hell if I didn’t notice. We stared each other down nose to nose until I Rick put a hand on Daryl’s chest and gave him a nudge.

“Let’s all just calm down.” Rick said, “Xander how about you take a shower and get cleaned up while we try to come up with a plan to get rid of that heard. Then you can go ahead and do what you need to do. As for now let’s just calm down.”

I looked at Daryl for a couple of seconds more before I nodded. Then I froze, “Did you say shower? Like with running water?”

“Warm water too.” Carl piped in.

My eyes widened in joy and I looked to Rick.

“Carl, go ahead show him.”

Carl smiled at me and started towards the houses. I turned to follow him, but was stopped by a rough calloused hand set on my shoulder.

"One wrong move and you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know." Daryl drawled and I nodded at him.

            He let go of my shoulder and I rushed a bit to catch up with Carl who kept walking. We walked past a few of the white houses and I followed close behind him. People looked out their windows and some stopped on the street. I nodded to a few, “Glenn, Maggie, Aaron, Eric.” I said and they all looked slightly surprised that I remembered their names. I followed Carl to one of the houses and up onto the porch. He opened the door and led me in.

            The house was white, its walls and its furniture, but the carpet was gray. It was decorated minimalist styled and I frankly didn’t like it much. There wasn’t much around the house but as we walked up the stairs it got more homely. I heard a baby crying in the room off to the right of the stairs and looked to Carl in shock.

            “My little sister, Judith.” He said with a small smile.

            I nodded and watched as he opened a door to a room that screamed ‘TEENAGE BOY!’ Following him through the door I glanced around at comic books and knives, but to my utter surprise a handheld Bluetooth speaker sat on the shelf. “Can I?” I asked reaching for it.

            The boy looked perplexed, but nonetheless nodded, “Sure, just not too loud.”

            I smiled and went about pairing my phone to the speaker. Putting it at only half sound as I followed Carl into the bathroom.

            “Do you need any clothes or anything? I’m sure I can find some in my dad’s room and he wouldn’t mind.” Carl asked.

            “Nah kid, I got some in my bag here.”

            He nodded, “Well, I’ll be in my room waiting for you to get out so I can take you back to my dad.”

            “Okay.” I said and put the speaker on the sink counter. After Carl had shut the door I went into my playlist and turned on one of my favorite songs We Will Rock You by Queen. I banged my head to the beat as I stripped my clothes and climbed into the clean shower turning on the foset. First, the water was cold, then it heated up and I soon found myself laughing. I hadn’t taken a warm shower with running water in over a year and it was well over due. The water pelted my back relaxing my muscles until they became jelly and I sighed. I reached over to grab the body wash sitting on the shelf, it was strawberry scented and I held it up to my nose and took a deep breath in. It smelled just like the fresh strawberries my family used to grow in our garden during the warm summers.

            I squeezed the bottle, holding it upside down to let the creamy pink substance gather in my palm. After capping the bottle I began to lather myself, the water and tub turning brown beneath my feet. It felt so good to get the normalcy of a warm shower and I found myself wishing I didn’t have to leave, but I knew that was a dumb and impossible wish.

            Pushing the though from my mind I began to sing as the next song came on. “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy. Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low. Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.” The piano solo came on and when it ended I was shocked to hear Carl’s voice on the other side of the door.

“Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head. Pulled my trigger, now he's dead.” He sang.

“Mama, life had just begun. But now I've gone and thrown it all away.”

Then in unison, “Mama, ooh, didn't mean to make you cry. If I'm not back again this time tomorrow. Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters. Too late, my time has come. Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time. Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go. Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth. Mama, ooh, I don't want to die. I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all.”

The rest of the song went like the. Us singing back and forth and in unison until I was dressed again with my bag on my back. I stepped from the bathroom and turned the music down until it was just background music. “You got a good voice kid.” I said to Carl and he looked at me like I was stupid. I bit my lip and looked down, “Well anyway, here.” I said reaching the speaker out to him.

“Nah, you keep it.” He said, “For saving me and because I don’t have anything to pair it to. You might use it more than me.”

“Thanks, kid.” I said sliding my bag to my side, turning off the speaker, and putting it in the bag.

“Don’t worry about it.”

We walked back down the stairs and back out the door onto the street again. We were headed back the way we came and we met up with Daryl and Rick at the gate. Michonne had gone off somewhere. Daryl gave me a once over as if he hadn’t seen me clear enough when we first met and I smirk at him when his eyes met mine.

Rick shook his head with a chuckle, “Okay, here’s the rules on staying here. You gotta give any gun you might have to Olivia, she’s in charge of inventory, our food is rationed out so any food you might have goes there to. There will be no picking fights here, we are a community and a family. I’ll let you stay, but - ”

“Wait, you want me to stay?” I asked eyes wide.

Rick nodded, “Daryl ain’t too happy about it and he don’t trust you for shit, but you did save my boy so I’m not gonna let you go get killed.”

“I need my duffel.” I said.

“We can get out there to get it soon, right now we are surrounded and we - ”

“No, Rick. I need my duffel. It has a shit ton of weapons in it. That’s why I tied it up. It would have weighed me down. They are only things like Swords, Knives, Katanas and my battle Axe, but we need them.” I spoke cutting him off.

“We have a heard surrounding the front gate. Ain’t nobody getting in or out, Asshole.” Daryl growled.

“Says you. I can probably get in and out no problem.” I glared.

Daryl got up in my face just like we were earlier except this time he too was clean and showered, however unlike me he smelled woodsy. It graced my nose and if I didn’t know any better I would think I kinda liked it. “Go ahead and try. You’re just gonna end up a walker.”

“Not if I have a plan.”

“What’s your plan? To die?”

“Nah, to get my duffel and come back with it without a scratch on my pretty little face that you love so much.” I smirked.

Rick was between us again and pushing us apart, “No picking fights goes for you to Daryl.” He said pointedly. Daryl backed off and Rick looked back at me, “What’s your plan?”

I smirked, “Ima need two sturdy bars that won’t snap if I put my weight on them.”


End file.
